Letters to the editor

Last fall, I read with interest the letter from Ken Ziesenheim about the low water level in Little Lake Jackson and a problem with the canal between Little Lake Jackson and Lake Josephine.

Later, another letter from an individual wrote about the low water level in Lake Josephine. In January, a friend and I canoed the canal from Lake Josephine up to the dam south of Little Lake Jackson. We found the three gates on the dam in the open position, not allowing the water level to rise behind the dam.

During this canoe trip up to the dam, we came across a recent medium-sized dead alligator just north of Skipper Road on the west bank. Two turkey vultures were pecking at its tail. After returning from the dam, we found four turkey vultures and other birds pecking at the dead alligator’s tail and head.

Recently, my friend and I canoed up to the dam again. This time, all that was left of the alligator were bones, and the skull was missing. Most disturbing to us were the 36 shotgun shells we saw floating in the canal. Twenty-eight of these shells were between S.R. 66 and the dam. The remainder was between S.R. 66 and Skipper Road.

Ronnie Beverly

Sebring

Another Roe v. Wade?

To say in 1973 that I was simply flabbergasted by the Supreme Court decision to legalize abortion would have been a gross understatement.

The vast majority of Americans were then pro-life and truly believed that the justices would have found abortion to be a clear violation of the U.S. Constitution’s principle that we are all endowed by our creator with an inalienable right to life.

Now I sense an eerie similarity with the 1973 abortion issue and the current gay marriage controversy, which is slated for perusal by the Supreme Court.

If one were to return to the time of Roe v. Wade, virtually all segments of society would then have considered it absurd to even entertain such a notion.

After all, the definition of marriage was then (and still is) that of a “union between a man and a woman” and thus, “gay marriage” would have been simply discarded as an oxymoron.

Yet progressives are now actively endorsing and promoting a self-contradiction for enactment into law.

Odd as it may seem, by utilizing today’s low-information voting constituency they may well pull off another coup comparable to Roe v. Wade.

It is now clear that unless we are able to at least slow down this race to the “fundamental transformation of America,” our constitutional republic will soon be a thing of the past.

To do so politically would take a long shot since the progressives already control the presidency and are looking forward to substantial congressional gains in 2014.

However, when one considers that many of our constitutional rights such as life, liberty, religious freedom, etc. are endowed by our creator, they are necessarily eternal and unaffected by new ideologies and fads.

Also, since the Supreme Court is apolitical and bound to uphold the Constitution, it becomes quite clear that our best bet for succeeding is through the courts.

However, if the Supreme Court were ever to fail in this duty, the “fundamental transformation of America” will have been assured, our constitutional republic will have been dissolved and my purpose in writing this letter will have been fruitless.